Edorium Journals are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, thereby permitting unrestricted usage, distribution and reproduction provided the proper citation of the original work is in place. Retaining copyright for their own work is the greatest boon of open access journals ensuring the free use of the article by the author himself in posterity. Traditional subscription-based journals handicap availability of scientific journal articles as a resource not only for the readers but the author too, hindering wider academic recognition.
The significance of academic publishing lies in the ability of its present output to be stepping stones and support for newer and improved productions. There are clearly perceived benefits to sharing the scholarly output. In the field of academic publishing, the principle of free access for all translates to a larger readership and therefore, frequent citation. Open access increases citation, and scholars from diverse disciplines are looking towards open access publication and being rewarded in terms of higher research impact. For example, open access copies of scientific journal articles come up ahead of restricted copies in a Google search of available and indexed articles.
Edorium, through open access publication, disseminates research in multiple ways and format. This approach gives a work high visibility, better citation, and increased impact. They also nurture these scientific journal articles to become the most authoritative anchors in their subjective fields.
A major concern that open access publication addresses is a faster publication schedule as opposed to the lengthy wait in traditional academic publishing. Online open access journals through technological advances are making sure that new research and studies are available to readers within a record time of their completion. The problem of reduced relevance due to delays is thus taken care of.
The landmark advantage of engaging with Edorium Journals is its guarantee of prompt, time bound service. It is their constant endeavor to shorten the duration of submission to publication process remarkably through unique and innovative methods and technology. They adhere to a strict schedule of six weeks within the submission of manuscripts to come up with their first decision, and, publication within four weeks of receiving page proof corrections. In the unlikely event of failure, in any or both the timed processes they offer three-quarters of the fees as the discount.
This brings us to the most contended point of open access journals, its peer review quality. One of the most underlining reasons of authors for not preferring open access journals was its low prestige and a sub-standard peer review process adding to it. Bohannon’s project and papers by Beall , show us that quality restrictions are indeed lax in certain online open access journals. However, transparency of the peer-review process as presented to contributors and readers may be the solution here.
A stringent editorial review is a cornerstone of academic publishing and more so in acse of, scientific journal articles. In Edorium Journals, an internationally acclaimed editorial board of experienced physicians and scientists uphold the scientific standards of the journal and formulate editorial ethics and policy. The peer-review process is extremely thorough and includes a rigorous double-blind, external process that eliminates subjective judgments and bias. Reviewers are taken on board on the basis of their expertise and interests, their reputation and past experiences.
This commitment to open access and scholarly communication unlimited by financial and legal barriers, to go beyond online open access publication into an interactive forum and a means of collaboration for research progress are supported by effective low-cost methods. Edorium has no submission or manuscript handling charges but a single Article Publication Charges (APC) which pays for the entire process of publishing and levied only when an article has been accepted for publication. APC for Edorium is on average 2-3 times lower than other contemporary online open access journals for scientific journal articles.
In light of the discussion so far, one has to realize the potential of open access publication in terms of its greater reach and visibility, within and beyond the research and scholarly community. In the present years, there has been a great thrust to open access movement through various open access publishers, who believe in it and are dedicated supporters of welfare and progress of academic communities in various research fields. However, we also see potential pitfalls of online open access journals where editorial decision making is independent of revenue generation and could compromise on peer-review quality.
Edorium Journals address all the issues and resolve all conflicts that arise in online open access publication. Furthermore, they do so with adherence to the highest ethical principles of scholarly publishing. They believe that the global corpus of scientific knowledge needs to be shared, combined, built upon and expanded for the progress and betterment. More than an online open access journal publisher they aim to be the stage for collaboration among researchers and institutions around the world.
At present, Edorium’s academic publishing covers the basic sciences, medical and surgical specialties under the online open access publicationsystem. Moving on, they plan to include a wider range of medical and biomedical sub-specialties. Their flagship journal, International Journal of Case Reports and Images, is a multidisciplinary journal that is dedicatedly publishing case reports articles in all specialties.
Stepping out of the traditional borders of online open access publishing, Edorium also engages in academic programs towards furthering its mission statement of working for the progress of science. Mentored Review Article (MRA) program was developed to enable undergrad and post-grad students all over the world, to be mentored by the eminent faculty comprising the Editorial Boards of the Edorium Journals publishing group. And upon successful completion, these articles that come through MRA stand a chance of publication in Edorium or any other online open access publishing forum.
Research should be encouraged, nurtured and should also be awarded. Hence, Edorium honors outstanding research through its annual Excellence Awards, with a special category for research from developing country, and travel grants. Reviewers too, stand to be felicitated for their contribution in the form of Reviewer Excellence, and Outstanding Services awards. The trust and confidence of authors, as well as, the selfless services of reviewers are thus aptly acknowledged and appreciated.
Academic publishing, through open access publication journals are much under the scanner right now, because it is of great significance to the research community, research funders, scholarly publishers, and to the readers. It has a measurable impact on productivity and a quantitative impact on research, which should be strengthened through greater participation.
With this background, the course for open access journals and publication is set but few creases still need ironing out. One of the enumerated reasons for not preferring an open access journal by authors for their scientific journal articles was the perception of them having low prestige and in turn, adverse effects on chances of research grants. But studies have pointed out that, the reputation of scholarly researched output is not dependent upon its publication medium. A paper has its own intrinsic value, a rigorously, intellectual work is valued amongst peers worldwide notwithstanding its traditional or open access roots.
An article published by The New York Times , expounded on ‘the dark side’ of online open access journals. The article shows how open access has moved onto being a business, and a shady one at that. From authors who are coerced into handing over personal checks along with their scientific articles to persuasive service on editorial boards, credibility in the open access universe has taken a serious hit.
But as blogger Kamil Mizera pointed out, ‘The scientific publishing is a profitable business and it is hardly surprising that someone is trying to take advantage of it; but the benefits of OA outweigh the disadvantages.
Edorium lives by a golden rule when it comes to accepting papers, that is, the quality and scientific validity of a particular work. The quality of an article depends on the author who writes it, the publisher does not create, modify or alter the research. What an online open access publisher can do is stress on the strict editorial policies and solid publication ethics before producing an end product. Edorium takes a very strong stand against plagiarism and ethical violations and has detailed guidelines, regarding its editorial policies.
Nurturing and working on an open access journal to take it to the heights of academic publishing respectability is an arduous process. It requires sustained efforts and hard work from a dedicated team of contributors, reviewers, publishers and readers. Open Access Journal publishing is, at the end of the day, a service to the scientific community. It generates enough revenue to sustain the publishing effort, and if ethical considerations are maintained, quality standards are uncompromised then fruits of a modest profit can be reaped. This, however, is in no way comparable to subscription-based publishers and remains a tiny fraction of their numbers.
The popularity of open access journals has risen favorably owing to the belief that research funded by the public should be freely available to them. The economics of traditional subscription-based publishing is being questioned and much of its working knowledge and figures are not in the public purview. They generate revenue from various sources, such as libraries, other subscribers, re-prints, charges to authors, etc. Transparency regarding their costs is not a willingly discussed subject as compared to open access journals.
On the other hand, open access publishing has straight forward costs and is at times subsidized through grants. The move towards open access publishing is inevitable but the transition will be gradual. Though many open access journals have come up with successful and sustainable models, driving costs down and bringing the scientific community towards comparing publishing prices, the industry hasn’t seen a radical change. There is a lack of demonstrated enthusiasm and as Michael Eisen says, ‘I didn’t expect publishers to give up their profits, but my frustration lies primarily with leaders of the science community for not recognizing that open access is a perfectly viable way to do publishing.’
Edorium Journals started from scratch and have built upon their shoulders their own hard-earned reputation, trust from authors and credibility in the scientific journal articles arena. They believe in working hard, in working the right way and being great at what they do.
